Imprinted
by kat009
Summary: ECLIPSE SPOILERS AND ANGST! It's been 50 years since the wolf last saw his soul mate, and when she comes back into his life he realizes that he will never have her heart.


Imprint

A/N: WARNING! SPOILERS FOR ECLIPSE! AND LOTS OF ANGST!

The wolf nearly howled in triumph as he realized the scent that he was tracking was close... Soon he would catch up with the vampire, and it would not trespass in La Push ever again. The thrill of the hunt filled his body; this was what he continued to live for.

Fifty years he had been a wolf, and the pain was almost faded away.

The scent got stronger and he couldn't prevent a barking laugh from escaping his throat. At this point, it wouldn't matter if the vampire knew he was in pursuit. It was already too late. Adrenaline rushed through him. Soon he would be ripping apart one of his natural enemies, the creatures that he had been after since that day fifty years ago...but he didn't like to think of it. The pain still coursed through him when he remembered her, just a girl then. Before she had vanished.

He had searched hopelessly, but she had been too difficult to track. Her family had moved. That may have been a good thing; he didn't know what he would have done if he had seen her. What if he had killed her? Hurt her? And even if he had done none of those things, it would have hurt him deeply to see her. Because she was one of them now, among the numbers of his enemies.

The russet-colored wolf could see the vampire flitting through a clearing now, and his immortal heart sped up. This was it. He would cut around the trees and go in for the kill, ripping the creature's throat out before it could escape...

Dark hair was tossed over its shoulder as it turned and shocked him into paralysis.

He would have said her name if he had human lips to form the words. The recognition in her eyes sparked instantly...eyes that were no longer their natural color but glowed as if cast from gold.

They stood at an impasse. She looked like a goddess in the ethereal glow the cloudy sky cast down on the clearing, her dark hair contrasting with her pale skin. When he had known her he had never imagined that she could be anymore beautiful - but here she was, distracting him from the hunt and her scent just with her appearance. He feared the moment that she would speak, but longed for it; he entertained the thought that the sound of voice would send him into oblivion. He could not move, but he suddenly felt his body twisting in an unfamiliar way, and realized that he had returned to his human form. His lips found the right syllables, which he hadn't spoken in half a century.

"Bella."

Her gaze was static, those golden eyes never leaving his. "I was hoping you would find me."

What? What did that mean? The wolf gulped down the growing lump in his throat, trying to ignore the scent permeating the forest. "Why are you here?" he said clumsily, simply. He struggled to remember the words. It had been a long time.

He hadn't known that vampires could cry, but she did now. Tears leaked out of her golden eyes and fell down her cheeks. He suppressed the urge to go to her and hold her, but he didn't know what would happen if he got any closer. Instinct warned him that it was not safe to let her get to close, or to let her escape.

"Edward is gone," she said.

Of course that would be the only reason she was here. Her bloodsucker had finally been dismembered by some lucky individual. Jacob would have loved to be the one doing the rending.

She continued. "You promised me that you would be waiting in the wings..."

He could sense the immense power she had gained, but she was still so weak. The urge to go to her doubled. It puzzled him that she hadn't found some way to destroy herself after her leech had died, that she had decided to come here instead of following the vampire into the pits of hell. Perhaps she still harbored the love that she had assured him that she felt for him. Perhaps she really had left a piece of herself behind.

Jacob was suddenly reaching out a hand, and Bella stepped hesitantly forward to take it. He flinched when her skin touched his, chilling him to the bone. She too recoiled, as if he had burned her.

"You're too hot," she said, her breath just barely a whisper.

He would have laughed if it had been fifty years ago. Maybe he would have kissed her.

"The opposite goes for you," he muttered. He had half a mind to transform back into a wolf now, and leave her here; she would be happier if she could just go find some way to get back to Edward.

They stood in silence, and he realized that her scent was not driving him crazy with bloodlust. Maybe she had gained some sort of supernatural power like the other bloodsuckers after they'd turned her. It didn't really matter to him - all that mattered was that it didn't seem possible for him to touch her without hurting her.

"I have a favor to ask," she said.

Jacob didn't understand how she could dare to ask him for a favor, but he opened his ears to her request. "Anything," he whispered.

Her eyes locked with his. "Anything?"

He nodded.

"Kill me."

His breath hissed out. "Damn it, Bells...I should have known..."

Her long dark hair blew in the breeze as the moon came out from behind the clouds, and his heart twisted at the sight of her. "I knew that you could help me...and I need help. I need you to help me find the sun again, Jacob."

"I thought that maybe -"

"I am your mortal enemy," she said, remnants of the old Bella creeping into her voice, "We could never be together, Jacob. It burned when I touched you..."

Jacob recoiled. There was no getting around that fact. "I would rather die than have to kill you," he rasped. The wolf was surprised that he still felt the sharp pain of this human emotion, for a girl who was no longer human at all. "That's the one thing I can't do."

She had sunk down to the ground in a second, and the tears poured down to the ground. "You're my last hope...I can't live like this..."

Jacob winced before he even said what he knew would hurt her. "You are not alive."

And then the wolf was running through the woods again, leaving the girl that had been imprinted on his mind behind.

--

It was a few weeks later when he found her again. She was standing on the cliff that she had once stupidly jumped off of...the event that had changed the entire course of both of their lives. Jacob once again phased back into his true self, and approached her cautiously.

"Do you ever wonder what would have happened if I hadn't jumped?" she said without turning around. He stopped a few feet behind her, gritting his teeth.

"Every day."

"I wish I hadn't," she whispered, "I wish that Edward Cullen had never come back into my life. I wish that he had just left me alone."

Jacob laughed bitterly. "You have no idea."

She turned, her golden eyes focusing on his, reminding him that she was not the Bella he once knew. "We could have grandchildren by now, Jacob Black. But I'm stuck like this. I'm trapped in this empty body, void of a soul, of a beating heart...and you won't release me."

"I don't think it's possible that you would not have a soul," Jacob said harshly, "Don't ever say that."

"But it's true." She turned again. "Since Edward died...all I want is to feed. But my teeth haven't pierced human flesh, not once." She bent her head, clenching her fists. "My resolve is fading fast..."

He couldn't help but put his arms around her. She hissed in pain, and then suddenly turned around, letting him enfold her in his warmth. Her skin heated up quickly, and she sighed contentedly. "It's almost as if I'm alive again," she sighed. He could feel her cold tears on his bare chest, and he considered for the first time that he was quite naked. It didn't seem to matter to either of them.

--

"There was no happy ending for me with Edward." She lay in his arms in the forest, and he stroked her soft hair happily. Her emotions did not mirror his. She cried most of the time and repeatedly begged him to kill her. He still refused. "Immortality and the constant thirst wear on you. I still hadn't quite acclimated by the time Edward was killed. Opposing clan. They dismembered his body and burned his corpse right in front of me. The Cullens scattered. Jasper began feeding again. Alice vanished and I couldn't follow the trail. Esme and Carlisle both destroyed by the Volturi. You are the only constant in my world, Jacob. And you are not immortal."

"I can be anything for you," he murmured.

She laughed sadly. "Except for my slayer." Bella turned onto her stomach and propped herself up on his chest, looking into his eyes. "If you don't kill me, I will kill you eventually." Her eyes had darkened; she needed to feed.

"I believe you."

He couldn't contain himself; he reached his head up and kissed her roughly. She returned the kiss with equal passion, wrapping her hand around the back of his head and holding on tightly. She was careful not to let her teeth graze over his flesh too much, keeping her poisoned bite away from him. He rolled her over, pressing her into the soft forest floor, and she let her hands roam over his muscled back. A glint of humor reflected in her eyes. "Have you looked into getting some pants?"

It was almost like they were kids again. "I didn't think it bothered you," he replied, kissing her again. She raked her nails over his backside and he chuckled against her neck. "Alright, alright..." He rolled off of her, suddenly self-conscious. "I'll take some from the village tonight."

A thoughtful look took over her features and she glanced over at his serene face. "How long has it been since you went back to the village?"

"I haven't been there since my father's funeral."

"Oh. How long ago was that?"

He frowned. "I'm not sure. I've lost track of time."

Her eyes were sympathetic when he looked back at her. "Me too."

--

The pack was growing again, and Jacob knew that she was going to have to go soon.

New wolves were springing up in response to her presence, and Jacob returned to the village in secret to tell the boys what was happening to them. He didn't tell them about the vampire that had become his lover, and he warned her that she should mask her scent.

He could tell that she was excited about this new development. She started to act like the old Bella again, the Bella that had pined for Edward while developing her relationship with Jacob in the years before he was a wolf. It worried him.

She still wanted to die.

Jacob spent more time as a human so that the pack wouldn't hear his thoughts. Even without being in wolf form, it was easy for him to get around, to live in the forest.

As he'd promised, he got himself some pants. She managed to avoid the pack by using her ability.

But despite her power, despite the fact that she could mask her scent, the wolves found her.

Jacob knew that they were coming, and he ran to her in his wolf form, holding her, telling her she had to go now. But she wouldn't go. "I'm sorry, Jacob," she said, "But it's time for me to die now. I'm sixty-nine years old, and I have nothing left to live for."

"You have me!" he insisted, kissing her, "You still have me!"

"Then come with me!" she said frantically. Her eyes were wild with desperation and with thirst. "Come with me and we can find out if I have a soul or not. When I'm dead and you're dead the two pieces of my heart will come back together..."

The wolves were coming. Jacob had to make his decision fast.

He offered his neck to her and she bit.

The venom spread through him like fire in his veins, and he was suddenly screaming. He thought about all the things he had voluntarily missed out on, because of her. He was thankful for his state of unconsciousness when the ripping noises started.

Fire heated his veins, and he could feel his life draining out through the puncture wound in his neck.

"I love you, Bella," he found himself saying, "I love you. You did imprint on me, Bella...you were my soul mate...I lied when I said you weren't...I love you..."

And then there was no more.

--

A/N: I'm depressed now. Review please?


End file.
